Viktor Gyokeres issues clear demands to Arsenal teammates after slip vs Aston Villa

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Viktor Gyokeres has called on his Arsenal teammates to up their creativity after their title hopes took a blow against Aston Villa . Mikel Arteta ’s side fell to just their second defeat of the campaign at Villa Park.

Matty Cash had given Unai Emery ’s men a first-half lead in the Midlands, only for Leandro Trossard to equalise for Arsenal. But the hosts were not to be denied as Argentine playmaker Emi Buendia scored late on. The result leaves Arsenal still top of the table, albeit with just a two-point advantage over nearest rivals Manchester City .

Gyokeres gave his verdict on the defeat and revealed that the dressing room was particularly gutted. He said: “We are of course disappointed with the result. It’s not a great feeling right now, but it’s only December and there are a lot of games to play.

“You can always find some positives, but it’s still a very difficult way to lose a football game. It’s tough right now, but we’ll look forward to the next one soon.”

Gyokeres has scored just four Premier League goals for Arsenal this season following a big-money switch from Sporting Lisbon - his last goal coming in a 2-0 win against newly-promoted Burnley in November. But the Swedish frontman believes that if the Gunners can continue creating chances, then the goals will start flowing.

He added: “We have to keep creating chances and get shots on goal because then you’ll eventually score more goals. So yes, that’s of course a positive and we just need to do things in between also a bit better.

“It’s football. If you score in the last few seconds or minutes, that is an unbelievable feeling, so it goes both ways. Today, unfortunately, it was the other way. It’s tough, but you learn from it.

“If we focus on what we can control and do in our favour and focus on the next game, we’ll be better, I think.”

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Arsenal will turn their attention to the Champions League in midweek as they entertain Belgian side Club Brugge. They then have an ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways next weekend as they welcome rock bottom Wolves to the Emirates.

Speaking about the impact of the defeat on his side’s title ambitions, boss Mikel Arteta said: “That's the league. You go to Old Trafford, you go to St James Park, you go to Chelsea , you come here - we've been in a lot of difficult grounds and today the result could have been different.

“The reality is not, and that's the step that we have to make. We've been 18 games unbeaten and still we are there, very close to each other. That's the level of the league and we know that.

“That's the opportunity that we have ahead of us and that's it. Now it's time to bounce back. They have given me all the right reasons to think that we're going to continue to perform at the same level, because what the boys tried to do today, again, with the schedule that we had, it was amazing. So, [we] move on.”

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